OT Novel ideas

[moonstone]

Hi everyone

I'm spending a couple of evenings filling an e-reader up with novels for a Motor Neurone disease charity.

I've been handed this fabulous little device, which is far easier to hold and turn the pages than a book, if you have limited mobility in your hands and arms. Now I need to fill it up.

I'm after some suggestions of novels that anyone has particularly enjoyed reading.

Any ideas?

Many thanks in advance. X

[TheEqualizer]

A favorite of mine from the last few years is The Life of Pi.

[policefan]

I also enjoyed The Life of Pi and
Water for Elephants.

[Horacio]

"Little Prince"
by Antoine de Saint Exupery

[visions]

Sorry cant resist

Strange things happen! by our own......you know who
I know there is always one....me

A Robert Ludlum book

[Kim]

I have a Kindle and I'm in the process of reading the third book in Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy and I like the series. I'm looking forward to seeing Daniel Craig in the movie in December Next I have the Pillars of the Earth downloaded already, then I plan to get one of Neil Peart's books.

[smax]

Sebastian Faulkes' "birdsong" and whatevertheotheronewascalled are great.. he's narrating the series on Fiction on the Beeb at the moment so he knows what he's talking about.

i guess it depends how far back you want to go... henry james (portrait or daisy are both good), thomas hardy (if you wanna be bored off your tits) dickens (who invented the word "boring" in bleak house, i'd go for A Tale of Two Cities), 39 steps by john buchan is a good adventure tale, wind in the willows is loved by everyone, 3 men in a boat (j jerome).. i'd say throw in some new journalism, so sunnink by Tom Wolfe who attempted to define decades with his novels (say bonfire of the vanities, man in full) as long as you can deal with his histrionic use of punctuation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
to kill a mockingbird (h lee) ,kerouacs' on the road.... the unforgettable American Psycho (the style of which one can make direct comparisons with henry james if you're so inclined)... some victorian age of reason stuff like frnkenstein or jekyll and Hyde... some austen? although she leaves me cold (and they're all basically the same story) but Emma is the best imho.

[moonstone]

These are great ideas folks

Thank you so much for your input and thank you to people who e-mailed me with ideas too.

Some of the same books are popular with lots of people. Sebastian Foulkes Birdsong has been mentioned several times. Does anyone know is this part of a series?

The Steig Larsson trilogy has also been mentioned a lot as has The life of pi.

I was suprised and pleased to find that this particular e-reader came with a 100 free classics package which saves me buying them and of course saves the charity from paying for them. Now I can keep adding the fun stuff!
It's going to make a very big difference to the quality of life for some very poorly people.

As the reader can hold up to 1,200 books, this is going to be a bit of an on-going project. Every now and then I will get the reader back to add more books as and when funding allows so if anyone reads anything new and thinks it would be a good addition then please let me know. My e-mail is moonstonemaria@hotmail.com

Thanks guys. Nutters rock for many reasons and this is one of them.

[63falcon]

I am not a mystery novel reader as a rule, but I picked up one of the late Tony Hillerman stories set on the Navajo Res in AZ/NM ("Big Rez")-and proceeded to read them all over time! Each stands alone, but has ongoing storylines for diff. characters, little or no 'cussing', and no anatomy lesson intimate scenes. The real hook for me tho' was Mr. Hillerman's wonderful descriptions of the varied 4 Corners landscapes along w/ accurate inclusions of the many Native and non-Native cultures there. Also, how 'foreign' each of those cultures STILL are to each other.
If I had limb mobility issues, taking a mental vacation to Canyon deChelly, Mogollon lava flows, Shiprock, anasazi ruins,.....-wee, y'all get the picture.
Another mystery author I stumbled on in our collection at work (at library), is Jacqueline Winspeare. Her stories follow a single character thru the time period of 1928 thru to, well she's up to about 1936/37. A woman who served in WW 1 as a Red Cross nurse. These stories interweave the background history of the Lost Generation of Britain/Europe, which Americans tend to be more ignorant of (even history buffs like me!), especially all the social changes that took off of a necessity. Now if the user is British, Ms. Winspeare just might be old hat, but Hillerman could be interesting.

[moonstone]

Thank you so much for those suggestions 63 falcon. I'm not familiar with either of the authors but now I want to read this stuff myself!

Just as a quick update. The reader was handed over to the first patient today.

She is a lady in her 70's with very very little mobility and is unable to speak at all but as with all MND patients, her mind is as sharp as ever.

I have been told that her smile lit up the room when she got handed the reader. It will make a huge difference to her life. Hopefully more readers will be purchased now for the patients and with a bit of luck more and more books will become available in ePUB format.

I'm compiling a list of suggested books so do please keep the ideas coming folks.

Many thanks. Maria.

[63falcon]

Sweet. This is a wonderful thing that you are doing here, moonstone, a real Blessing.